Despite the prominent use of sexual appeals in advertising, little is known about how consumers process messages that contain explicit versus implicit sexual appeals. View Summary

Despite the prominent use of sexual appeals in advertising, little is known about how consumers process messages that contain explicit versus implicit sexual appeals. This research presents the results of two studies that tested whether product type and individual consumer differences in sensation seeking moderated the effects of sexual appeal type. In Study 1, we conducted an experiment and found that an explicit sexual appeal was more effective in promoting a sexually related product, while an implicit sexual appeal was more effective in promoting a non-sexually related product. The above-mentioned results only held for high sensation-seeking participants, not for those who are low sensation seekers. In Study 2, we used a different manipulation of product type and replicated the results. The findings underscore how important it is for marketers to learn more about how different sexual appeals work. The findings also illuminate how practitioners can avoid negative consumer reactions to a sexual appeal.

This paper investigates the meaning of sustainable luxury among the wealthy, who are the primary target group of luxury brands. View Summary

This paper investigates the meaning of sustainable luxury among the wealthy, who are the primary target group of luxury brands. In doing so, it highlights the interest of using a combination of semiotics tools (Peirce's and Greimas' paradigms) to analyse consumers' discourses. Indeed, understanding the sign-value of a brand in relation to the natural environment and society is paramount to the development of CSR activities, in order to avoid, on one side, being perceived as greenwashing and, on the other, losing the brand meaning and authenticity. Findings indicate that the luxury clientele opposes 'ascribed luxury' (discreet and emphasising traditional manufacturing techniques) to 'achieved luxury' (conspicuous and marketed). The contribution of luxury brands to society welfare should be located on a continuum between sustainability in ethos and along the supply chain, and pure philanthropic actions, both being worthy in consumers' views, and both being expected from luxury brands to different degrees, depending on the brand ascribed or achieved status.

Prior research has revealed that advertisements utilizing a global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) strategy more often adopt soft-sell (indirect and image-based) rather than hard-sell (direct and information-based) appeals. View Summary

Prior research has revealed that advertisements utilizing a global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) strategy more often adopt soft-sell (indirect and image-based) rather than hard-sell (direct and information-based) appeals. However, little empirical research has examined consumer preferences for soft-sell versus hard-sell advertising appeals in multi-country settings. This investigation attempted to fill this gap by proposing a multi-country research framework and conducting a pilot study. Soft-sell and hard-sell versions of a print advertisement were pretested with nearly 2,000 subjects in both holistic- and analytical-thinking countries. Findings indicated that employing a soft-sell appeal would be more effective than its hard-sell counterpart in global markets. Results from t-tests collectively indicated that soft-sell advertisements were more likely to generate favorable attitudes and less likely to evoke advertising irritation in most of the countries examined. In closing, the authors discuss theoretical as well as managerial implications, recognize important limitations, and summarize suggestions for future research.

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How Strong is the Pull of the Past? Measuring Personal Nostalgia Evoked by Advertising

Marketers frequently evoke personal nostalgia in their advertising. To date, scales have been developed to measure the propensity to get nostalgic but not the actual dimensions of personal nostalgia. View Summary

Marketers frequently evoke personal nostalgia in their advertising. To date, scales have been developed to measure the propensity to get nostalgic but not the actual dimensions of personal nostalgia. Results from four studies show that advertising-evoked personal nostalgia comprises four correlated but distinct dimensions: past imagery, positive emotions, negative emotions, and physiological reactions. This multidimensional scale showed a high level of validity and reliability. Moreover, due to careful choice of sampling frames, the study demonstrates a high level of external generalizability. Evaluating nostalgia-based advertising using the study’s multidimensional scale may provide marketers with strategic insights for developing and fine-tuning advertising aimed at inducing nostalgia among consumers.

This paper reports on a study that decoded the different cultural and generational meanings of colour in China, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, in order to provide brands with a better understanding of the impact and implications of their colour choices. View Summary

This paper reports on a study that decoded the different cultural and generational meanings of colour in China, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, in order to provide brands with a better understanding of the impact and implications of their colour choices. The research is based on findings from a market research online community of "nowsumers", whose close connection to digital and mobile technology enables the collection of constant ethnographic data ("24/7 diginography"). The paper includes an investigation of aspects of these consumers' everyday lives, with emphasis on their non-spoken observations in relation to colour symbolism.

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Visual awareness: A manifesto for market research to engage with the language of images

This paper argues the case for market researchers to use images in order to help marketers understand consumers. View Summary

This paper argues the case for market researchers to use images in order to help marketers understand consumers. More broadly, it calls for market research to recognise that the language of images must be given due recognition in the corporate world. Images form a tool for social identity through history; the digital revolution has also led, the paper argues, to society becoming increasingly image-based. But images play a limited role in the mainstream methodological repertoire of market research - and this needs to change. Such a process represents a great new opportunity for semiotics to move into a more central role within market research. The paper suggests three methodological approaches to help improve understanding of the language of images: individual, social and cultural.

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The Naked Truth: Revealing the Affinity for Graphic Sexual Appeals in Advertising

Graphic sexual appeals grab attention but the advertising literature suggests that these messages are far from a “magic bullet.” Using a large national panel (N = 1,506), the current research manipulated levels of nudity in fragrance ads and assessed key constructs including Sexual Self Schema, Sensation Seeking, and dimensions of the Reidenbach-Robin Multi-dimensional Ethics Scale to determine which factors best account for individual response. View Summary

Graphic sexual appeals grab attention but the advertising literature suggests that these messages are far from a “magic bullet.” Using a large national panel (N = 1,506), the current research manipulated levels of nudity in fragrance ads and assessed key constructs including Sexual Self Schema, Sensation Seeking, and dimensions of the Reidenbach-Robin Multi-dimensional Ethics Scale to determine which factors best account for individual response. Findings indicate that elements of all three variables were important predicators of viewers’ emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral responses, especially as nudity increased. The results elucidate key factors for managerial action when incorporating sexual appeals in brand building.

9

Real women on real beauty: Self-discrepancy, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceptions of attractiveness and thinness in Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

This experiment tested the effectiveness of manipulated images of a Dove model, of varying shapes and sizes, to assess how or if exposure to an average or plus-size model would decrease women’s short-term internalisation of body image ideals. View Summary

This experiment tested the effectiveness of manipulated images of a Dove model, of varying shapes and sizes, to assess how or if exposure to an average or plus-size model would decrease women’s short-term internalisation of body image ideals. The objective of this study was to assess adult women’s beliefs about beauty and attractiveness in themselves and in others using several variables as possible predictors: exposure to thin-ideal or plus-size models, social comparison and societal views of thinness. Using an image of a model from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and three manipulated images of the same model, this study tested participants’ evaluations of each model’s attractiveness and thinness, and further tested participants’ level of self-discrepancy and societal views of thinness to assess if the campaign was at all effective in influencing the way women perceive beauty and attractiveness in themselves and in others. While exposure to the Dove model versus an ultra-thin model was not related to decreased levels of self-discrepancy across experimental groups, numerous other statistically significant relationships emerged based on exposure to the Dove or plus-size model. These and other findings are discussed.

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Don't Take Action Based On This Paper: Secrets of Effective Subconscious Communication

What's UP? Ever thought about UP; Why you speak up in meetings when a hot topic comes UP but at other times you shut UP, make up excuses, so as not to stir UP trouble? And is your communication more like "3 researchers walk into a bar. View Summary

What's UP? Ever thought about UP; Why you speak up in meetings when a hot topic comes UP but at other times you shut UP, make up excuses, so as not to stir UP trouble? And is your communication more like "3 researchers walk into a bar. " or rather like "It was a dark and stormy night"? Do you sometimes find advertising memorable, but not the brand name? Ever wonder why we remember the faces of students in our school book but not their names? Words, images, metaphors, stories, emotions. . communication is a many splendored, and confusing thing. Is it true that we only use 10% of our brain? No, it isn't. But how we use it might surprise you. And how you can use this knowledge to revolutionize your communication might inspire you. That is because our brain. . sorry, this is only a teaser! Can you not read this paper? It is UP to you.

Having recognised the growing importance of charitable donation and sophisticated advertising techniques in charity advertising, this study examines message framing, vividness congruency and statistical framing in promoting charitable donations. A between-subjects experiment is conducted to test proposed hypotheses in the context of a child poverty-orientated charity. The overall results indicate that vivid presentation strengthens framing effects on advertising persuasion when it is congruent with the framed message. These effects are especially salient when both are presented negatively. Statistics presented in a format where a small number is employed are found to facilitate effects of the negatively framed message with a negative case story. Alternatively, statistics presented with a large number increase the advertising influences of the positively framed message with a positive case story. Based on the findings, managerial implications for fundraising and possibilities for future research are discussed.

Why use rich media in brand campaigns? More than 4,000 online campaigns in Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms database were compared to identify the brand impact of those campaigns that used rich media as compared to those that used “simple” Flash and image formats. View Summary

Why use rich media in brand campaigns? More than 4,000 online campaigns in Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms database were compared to identify the brand impact of those campaigns that used rich media as compared to those that used “simple” Flash and image formats. Delta scores for the campaigns were compared across five branding metrics. Results indicated that campaigns using rich-media formats generally had stronger branding effects compared to campaigns using GIF/JPG and “simple” Flash formats. Campaigns using rich-media advertisements with video features showed the strongest performance. The results suggest new strategies for improving brand campaign performance based on advertising format choice.

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Beavers, Bubbles, Bees, and Moths: An Examination of Animated Spokescharacters in DTC Prescription-Drug Advertisements and Websites

Several prescription drug brands use animated characters in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. This article draws on the literature on spokescharacters to address four research questions: 1) What different types of animated spokescharacters are used in DTC advertising? 2) How are prescription drug marketers using spokescharacters in DTC advertising? 3) To what extent are these characters integrated into the websites for these brands? 4) Is there any evidence that the use of animated spokescharacters enhances advertising effectiveness? Animated characters are used in various ways, such as the symbol of a disease, a victim, or as the mechanism of action. View Summary

Several prescription drug brands use animated characters in direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. This article draws on the literature on spokescharacters to address four research questions: 1) What different types of animated spokescharacters are used in DTC advertising? 2) How are prescription drug marketers using spokescharacters in DTC advertising? 3) To what extent are these characters integrated into the websites for these brands? 4) Is there any evidence that the use of animated spokescharacters enhances advertising effectiveness? Animated characters are used in various ways, such as the symbol of a disease, a victim, or as the mechanism of action. Brands vary greatly in their integration of spokescharacters into DTC websites. Evidence from secondary data indicates that brands using spokescharacters perform better than average in recall and in brand-association tests.

CBS Outdoor used a tachistoscope to determine how long it takes to recognize the brand/product advertised in 187 outdoor posters in the Netherlands. View Summary

CBS Outdoor used a tachistoscope to determine how long it takes to recognize the brand/product advertised in 187 outdoor posters in the Netherlands. Additionally, CBS Outdoor measured the creative appeal of these advertisements. Using 80 content and format variables, an explanatory model was developed to measure creative appeal and brand/product recognition. Some preliminary findings: Clear branding and the inclusion of new-product information enhance product recognition.; Large amounts of text and pictures of people delay product recognition; Lengthy, large headlines, information cues, humor, and images of women delay brand recognition; Short headlines, a somewhat longer body text, and a product shot enhance the creative appeal of posters; Specifying a brand name in the headline or providing price information reduces appeal.

This Viewpoint piece discusses "puffery", what the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defines as a ‘term frequently used to denote the exaggerations reasonably to be expected of a seller as to the degree of quality of his product, the truth or falsity of which cannot be precisely determined’. View Summary

This Viewpoint piece discusses "puffery", what the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) defines as a ‘term frequently used to denote the exaggerations reasonably to be expected of a seller as to the degree of quality of his product, the truth or falsity of which cannot be precisely determined’. The authors discuss their own use of semiotic analysis to investigatethe existence of visual puffery in magazine advertising of women’s fragrances.

16

Determinants of visual forms used in print advertising: a cross-cultural comparison

Unlike past findings on cross-cultural advertising, culture seems to have little effect on visual forms in ads. In study 1, we tested whether the culture-congruent visual forms would still be prevalent, in spite of all the recent cultural convergence between Eastern and Western cultures. Interestingly, content analyses of visuals in 632 advertisements in a wide range of magazines from Korea (high context) and U.S. (low context) revealed that ads with direct visual forms were more prevalent in both cultures. In study 2, we extended our study to test the effects of culturally matching the visual forms on consumers’ attitude towards the ads and the brand advertised. Consistent with the findings in study 1, study 2 showed that direct visuals have stronger effects on consumers across the board. Unlike the assumptions made in previous studies, ads with indirect visual forms were not always preferred by Korean consumers. The product type and the brand familiarity moderated the effects; when brand familiarity was low, direct visual forms were preferred regardless of culture. This has an important implication for global brands entering markets such as Korea that are deemed to be an indirect culture; clear and direct visuals, rather than subtle and indirect visuals, will be preferred.

There has been a growing stream of research focusing on the application of rhetorical figures in advertising. View Summary

There has been a growing stream of research focusing on the application of rhetorical figures in advertising. Resonance, a rhetorical figure based on a visual–verbal interaction, is the issue of interest in the present paper. Specifically, we conducted two experiments in order to explore consumers’ responses towards resonance as well as test its limits in terms of visual–verbal incongruity. According to our results, resonance influences consumers in a positive manner. However, care should be taken with regard to the extent of applied incongruity between the visual and verbal elements on which resonance is grounded. A higher degree of incongruity is most likely to generate negative results.

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Semiotics of art: a heretical approach

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Luigi Toiati, ESOMAR, Qualitative Research, Paris, November 2007

There are two sides to art appreciation, which nowadays involves an increasingly broad section of the population. View Summary

There are two sides to art appreciation, which nowadays involves an increasingly broad section of the population. There is the post-war model of art appreciation as a means of educating the 'masses', with enjoyment of the arts extending from an elite group to an ever-growing number of 'users'. This trend can be defined as 'educational dissemination', and has existed, albeit in different forms, in totalitarian systems too. There is also a 'commercial' model, in step with globalization, where art appreciation can be defined as a phenomenon of mass culture and 'generic dissemination'. In this latter case, the arts are frequently turned into something 'cool' and trendy, and presented as a product for mass consumption, often in the 'global village', rather than as a means of furthering the interests of education. On the other hand, advertising is commonly considered as a form of artistic expression, and may be included in the process of education. This paper provides a comparative analysis of both art and advertising, in order to give qualitative researchers a new tool, useful in analysing art as a social phenomenon, and advertising as an artistic expression.

Online advertising has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception in 1994. This empirical study investigates the impact of seven creative characteristics of banner ads on the effectiveness of online advertising using a multiple regression model. View Summary

Online advertising has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception in 1994. This empirical study investigates the impact of seven creative characteristics of banner ads on the effectiveness of online advertising using a multiple regression model. A random sample of 209 banner ads was drawn from a sampling frame of advertisers, provided by an advertising agency specialising in internet advertising for the gaming industry. The findings of this study are broadly consistent with past research into online advertising efficiency, indicating that the creative characteristics of effective banner ads in the online gaming arena include: a larger size, absence of promotional incentives and the presence of information about casino games. In contrast, banner features such as animation, action phrase and presence of company brand or logo were ineffective in generating clickthroughs. Contrary to expectations, long messages on banners were associated with higher click-through rates.

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The influence of message format on the effectiveness of print advertisements for tourism destinations

In a context of overabundant ads and saturated consumers, message format is crucial in developing effective advertising campaigns. View Summary

In a context of overabundant ads and saturated consumers, message format is crucial in developing effective advertising campaigns. In this study, four major format components of print advertisements are considered: picture, logo, text and headline. The goal is to investigate the effectiveness of each of these components in triggering a response by the target audience. Three types of response are taken into account: knowledge (information), liking (attraction) and behavioural intention. Four series of hypotheses related to the influence of message format on the effectiveness of print ads are tested for an urban tourism destination through an experimental research design. Findings show that picture and text are the prevailing elements, while logo and headline are of marginal importance. Pictures are especially effective in attracting the consumer and arousing a behavioural intention, whereas text is most powerful in conveying information.

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Advertising visuals in global brands' local websites: a six-country comparison

The visual strategies employed in top global brands’ local advertising websites were compared between two groups of nations: the Western group, consisting of the US, UK and Germany; and the Eastern group, consisting of Japan, Korea and China. View Summary

The visual strategies employed in top global brands’ local advertising websites were compared between two groups of nations: the Western group, consisting of the US, UK and Germany; and the Eastern group, consisting of Japan, Korea and China. The results of a content analysis of 253 web ads show a clear pattern of differences in the role of visuals (literal vs symbolic), the use and role of celebrity models, the use of photographs vs illustrations, and the frequency of product portrayals between two groups. Ads from high-context nations tend to rely on symbolic visuals, celebrity models featured as characters, mixed use of photographs and illustrations, and indirect portrayals of advertised products. Ads from low-context nations are found to be the opposite, reaffirming the association between Hall’s information contextuality and advertising visual strategies. The findings imply that the idea of employing advertising visuals that reflect the communication styles of a particular national market appears to be a promising strategy to effectively reach consumers around the world. With this in mind, multinational advertisers might prefer to implement differentiated ad visual strategies in web advertising for Western and Eastern markets.

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The effect of an advertisement’s colour on emotions evoked by an ad and attitude towards the ad: the moderating role of the optimal stimulation level

Despite its importance surprisingly little is known about the influence of colour in advertising. This paper studies the effects of the three components of an ad’s colour (hue, saturation and lightness) on the emotions it evokes and on attitudes towards it. View Summary

Despite its importance surprisingly little is known about the influence of colour in advertising. This paper studies the effects of the three components of an ad’s colour (hue, saturation and lightness) on the emotions it evokes and on attitudes towards it. It is assumed that the influence of colour varies with the individual, whose optimal stimulation level (OSL) is considered a moderator variable. Analyses of covariance were conducted. The results show that OSL is a moderator variable accounting for the relations between hue and the pleasure evoked by the ad, and hue and the attitude towards the ad. Moreover, OSL proves to be a moderator for the relation between saturation and the same dependent variables.

This paper reports findings from a telephone study conducted among agency art directors and copywriters about their attitudes and beliefs about television commercials. View Summary

This paper reports findings from a telephone study conducted among agency art directors and copywriters about their attitudes and beliefs about television commercials. The study finds significant differences between these two groups. Art directors appear to be more sensitive to the visual look and feel of TV commercials and attach more importance to the originality and attention-getting power of the execution. Writers, on the other hand, are more concerned about issues of relatability, believability, and persuasiveness of an advertisement. Importantly, a significant number of creatives believe that writers have more control than art directors do over the kinds of commercials that get produced. And, in particular, one-third of the art directors in our survey are concerned that recall and other traditional verbal research measures may be shortchanging visually creative advertising. This suggests the need for more balanced methods of advertising measurement which can give full weight to the visual power of television advertising.

Are advertisements with more peripheral pictures more memorable than those with fewer pictures? If advertisers' objectives could be accomplished with advertisements containing fewer pictures, significant reductions in advertising-creation and media costs would result. View Summary

Are advertisements with more peripheral pictures more memorable than those with fewer pictures? If advertisers' objectives could be accomplished with advertisements containing fewer pictures, significant reductions in advertising-creation and media costs would result. In this paper the authors focus is on long print advertisements that have a low copy-to-picture ratio. They address several research issues, beginning with the fundamental question: Is a longer pictorial ad more effective than its shorter version? Then does a longer multi-picture ad cut through the media clutter more effectively than its shorter version. The moderating influence of reader motivation on the relative effectiveness of a longer versus a shorter ad is the final research question addressed in this study.

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Matching the Message to the Mind: Advertising Imagery and Consumer Processing Styles

The authors assert that personality theory can provide useful insights into which visual imagery works best with particular consumers. View Summary

The authors assert that personality theory can provide useful insights into which visual imagery works best with particular consumers. They use Jung's theory of personality type - especially the classification of Sensing/Intuiting - to postulate different ways of processing and interpreting visual stimuli. To test their theory they conduct a study involving pre-testing the methodology, and quantitatively evaluating their hypotheses. The authors conclude that the ways 'intuitives and sensors' react to visual stimuli has important implications for targeting, advertising creation and advertising research.